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potential future threats and beginning
to look at what technologies we need to
create to evolve our capabilities. It's also
about ensuring we have a more balanced
investment portfolio for the future of the
Army."
Modernization, Russell said, can and
should encompass both the near and
long term. " ere are very speci c things
we're doing today in the Army to address
near-term shortfalls, or to modernize our
equipment to ensure that we have the
capability that we need today. But there
are also, in the S&T investments, things
that we're doing that I would say would
potentially modernize our force in 2030.
It's all part of modernization." And all
part of the same evolutionary process.
PRECISION FIRES,
AIR AND MISSILE DEFENSE
Precision res and air and missile defense
are top priorities in Army S&T research.
e former is about more accurate artil-
lery and surface-to-surface missiles,
which the Army calls kinetic capabilities.
ose capabilities will be more accurate,
smarter and with longer range. Or, the
future could be artillery- or missile-like
capabilities in an environment where
artillery or missiles could not be used.
Missile defense will include nonkinetic
capabilities, such as directed-energy
weapons.
e future---and the midterm---will
include precision missiles with a 35-kilo-
meter range that can loiter, provide
operators with a full-motion video
view-on-target on a linked tablet, and
eliminate tanks or other high-value tar-
gets. e portfolio of capabilities also
includes the ability to defeat collaborative
or swarming threats. In the successful
proof-of-principle phase, the goal was
for a single operator to be able to re and
guide six missiles against four static and
two moving targets.
For other means of air and missile
defense, directed-energy weapons, spe-
ci cally high-energy lasers, o er a lot
of promise as part of a layered defense,
said Russell. While they may not be
the ultimate weapon, they will have a
use on the battle eld of the future. "It's
going to be a partnership between kinetic
capabilities and directed-energy capabili-
ties, including lasers, because lasers and
directed-energy capabilities aren't going
to be able to provide a single solution to
every challenge we face from an air mis-
sile defense perspective." In the nearer
term, Russell said, one of the bene ts will
be the lower overall cost of laser defenses.
An example of the utility of directed-
energy weapons is defense against the
increasing use of small unmanned
aerial systems (UASs), either as intelli-
gence, sur veillance and reconnaissance
platforms or as mules for explosives. "At
least in the near term, its bene t is based
on the cost equation," he said. While "it
does cost quite a bit to build a laser sys-
tem," after that initial outlay, lasers are a
great deal cheaper to use. e real issue
is "how much it costs me for the stored
energy to be able to provide a laser pulse
that will take down a target."
In the case of small UASs and "other
lower-cost targets, you don't necessarily
want to spend lots of money with mis-
sile systems to take out a counter-UAS,"
which would not only be expensive but
could be far less accurate, like using a
shotgun to take out a y.
While lasers have been around since the
1960s and commercial lasers are every-
where, Russell noted that "we haven't
really gotten to the point where we've
been able to operationalize lasers at the
cost-e ective size, weight and power
necessary to make them operationally rel-
evant. I think we're on the verge of being
able to do that. I think, in this evolving
modernization process, you'll see laser
systems coming online over the next 10
years that provide defensive capabilities
for both mounted and unmounted units."
ose capabilities will continue to evolve
and will become another "tool in the
toolbox. It won't be the only tool in the
toolbox. ... But it's very exciting."
THE PATH TO IMPROVEMENT
JLTVs perform demonstration runs around
Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, in
June. Army S&T programs are exploring ways
to improve vehicle platforms by leveraging
developments in artificial intelligence
and advanced sensors to improve vehicle
autonomy. (U.S. Army photo by David Vergun,
Defense Media Activity -- Army)
ASC.ARMY.MIL 59
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY / DASA R&T